Earshot
by Georgina the Hyena
Summary: Oneshot. Fred and George meet up with Lee at the wedding. Set during Deathly Hallows.


**Earshot**

Lee Jordan had never enjoyed going to weddings. The other weddings he had been to were those of his numerous older cousins. It was a time to wear stuffy dress robes, and for relatives that you didn't even know you had to fawn over how much you've grown before reprimanding you for fidgeting in your seat.

Lee had been only twelve the last time he went to a wedding. Maybe being older would make it more enjoyable. Plus, it wasn't his own family that he would have to deal with. However, he vowed to stay far away from Muriel. Fred and George had told Lee enough about her that Lee would rather face all of his own relatives combined than spend two minutes with Great Aunt Muriel.

Lee hadn't seen Fred and George since Dumbledore's funeral. They had written to him at least four or five times a week, but their letters were increasingly vague to the point of frustration. Lee had the impression that they were doing important work for the Order. He couldn't wait to see them face to face and make them explain themselves properly.

The mass of red haired Weasley relatives made it amazingly difficult to find Fred and George.

"Hey, Lee!!!" shouted a voice very loudly in Lee's ear, making him jump. Obviously, his friend had found him first and had decided to sneak up and scare him.

"Oh, there you are," said Lee once he had regained his composure. He saw with a twinge of disappointment that only one of the twins was there. He could tell them apart only if they were both in front of him.

"Guess what? George and I have good news for you!" Okay, the twin was Fred.

"Is it that you're hooking up with those pretty French veelas and making this a triple wedding?"

"No-- . . . wait, the idea has potential . . . no, that's not what I was going to say," Fred shook his head. Lee noticed that he had grown his hair out a bit so that it fell past his ears, "What I was going to say was, we now have a way for you and everyone else to tell me and George apart every single time."

"That's a good thing?" asked Lee, who knew that the twins loved to play their 'switching game' as often as humanly possible.

"I said it was good news for _you_," Fred corrected, "I never said that we were happy about it."

"Okay, then," said Lee. Part of him suspected that Fred was just setting him up for a joke, "How do I tell you two apart?"

"First, we find George. Then, we'll show you," Fred wandered into the crowd with Lee following next to him.

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Where's you sense of drama, Lee?" Fred turned to his friend, "Come on, maybe he's in the house."

Fred led the way into the Burrow and up to the second floor. The twins' bedroom was empty, but the bathroom was locked. Fred's knuckles rapped on the door.

"George! Are you in there?"

"Yes!" George answered back.

"What are you doing in there?"

"Fixing my hair!"

Lee sniggered and Fred called back, "Do you want me to send Ginny and Gabrielle up here? They could help you put it in pigtails!"

"Shut up, Fred."

"I swear, all of my siblings have such snappy retorts," Fred whispered sarcastically to Lee. Then he yelled through the door again, "Come on, Lee's out here. He wants to see the . . . erm, modification."

"How much did you tell him?"

"Almost nothing!" Lee shouted back before Fred could answer.

"Maximum shock is important," Fred said matter-of-factly.

"All right, already!"

George opened the door. Now Lee was sure that this was a prank. Other than the fact that George had also grown out his hair, he didn't look any different than normal.

"Okay, I'm stumped," Lee said after a few seconds.

"Show him," Fred pressed.

George smirked and brushed his hair off of one side of his head. Lee gasped. George's ear was gone. Nothing remained but a small, black hole. George let his hair fall back over the hole, though the hair lay flatter than it normally should have.

"Who . . . how the . . . when did _that_ happen?" Lee asked once he found his voice.

"Few days ago," George said, "Mission for the Order. It's really a thrilling story how it happened."

"Did a Death Eater do that?"

Fred answered, "Our dear old former Potions teacher, as a matter of fact. Fitting really, that a guy named Severus would specialize in severing."

"And to think," George continued, "I thought he was bad when the worst he did was deduct house points and give us detention."

"There you two are! Dawdling as usual I see!"

Fred, George and Lee turn to the newcomer. It was a very old woman – she had to be over one hundred years old. By the way Fred and George groaned, Lee summarized that this was their Aunt Muriel.

She looked them up and down, "I see you haven't improved since the last time I saw you. Look at the state of you: Growing out you hair like ruffians. Well," she paused and eyed Lee with his dreadlocks, "I suppose it could be worse. Do you own a spider, boy?"

Lee was taken aback by her bluntness, but answered, "Yes, a tarantu—"

"Ah, that explains it," Muriel interrupted before Lee could finish. Then turned her attention back to the twins, "I must find the bride to instruct her on how to wear my tiara. I will see you outside in a few minutes. Also, Fredrick, do you realize that your ears are lopsided?"

"Auntie Muriel," said George slowly, as though explaining something to a dim-witted three-year-old, "I know you hate to be corrected, but there are three things wrong with your statement. First, no one in this house is called 'Fredrick' ever! It's Fred. Second, I'm George. And third, it's impossible for my ears to be lopsided, because I only have one!

"Oh, yes, Molly told me about that. Dreadful accident, I'm sure. Good day," she marched smartly up the stairs.

"Good riddance, more like," Fred said once she was out of earshot.

"Come on, let's go outside and see who else has run afoul with Muriel, so we can all complain together," George said as he led the other two downstairs.


End file.
